YOUR VIEW: Paying for transportation

Wednesday

Nov 28, 2007 at 12:01 AM

Last March a report was made public that stated that the commonwealth faces a $20 billion gap over the next 20 years in its ability to maintain our transportation infrastructure. That means that our highways, local roads, bridges, train stations, bus terminals, commuter rail systems and local transit operations will continue to deteriorate into further disrepair, and possibly unsafe conditions.

ROLAND J. HEBERT

Last March a report was made public that stated that the commonwealth faces a $20 billion gap over the next 20 years in its ability to maintain our transportation infrastructure. That means that our highways, local roads, bridges, train stations, bus terminals, commuter rail systems and local transit operations will continue to deteriorate into further disrepair, and possibly unsafe conditions.

This funding gap threatens every major transportation project that is planned or hoped for in the state. This includes projects like:

Commuter rail expansions to Fall River/New Bedford and Wareham; Route 44 widening in Middleboro; The JFK Highway improvements in New Bedford; The Faunce Corner Road bridge replacement in Dartmouth; A new Route 24 interchange in Freetown; Replacing the Berkley/Dighton bridge; Replacing the I-195 ramps to and from Routes 79 & 138 in Fall River; Painting the Braga Bridge; Relocating Route 79 in Lakeville; Building bicycle paths in Fall River, Mattapoisett, Marion and Wareham; Reconstructing the Route 6/28 bridge in Wareham/Bourne; Building an intermodal station in downtown Attleboro; Replacing an aging bus fleet for SRTA.

Those projects are either not going to happen on schedule, or not in my lifetime because there is not enough funding.

The commonwealth is caught in a losing position. If it can't keep up with deterioration and inflation, how can it promise new transportation projects? Even when our projects are funded, they face consistent delays in construction. Witness the never-ending replacement of the Brightman Street Bridge — 10 years and counting.

Our transportation infrastructure is getting worse, not better.

According to Stephen Silveira, the chairman of the Transportation Finance Commission, "If we stop maintaining our system long enough, we're going to have our Minnesota moment." The reference is to the collapse of the interstate highway bridge over the Mississippi River. On Aug. 1, during rush hour, the bridge collapsed. Thirteen people died and some 100 more were injured.

It may sound harsh or alarmist to create images of a bridge collapse, but a tragedy like this is unpredictable. Only aggressive maintenance will lessen the chance of it happening here. But aggressive maintenance is not the standard operating policy when we are spending less than $200 million per year on our bridges. The state is clearly deferring maintenance on its highways and bridges because of a lack of financial resources. Again, according to Chairman Silveira, "Every time you peel those numbers back, they get worse."

This past September, the Transportation Finance Commission released its recommendations on how to solve the funding crisis. It proposed $2.45 billion in savings over 20 years by reforming the way we manage our transportation system, and $18.73 billion in new revenue over the same period. The largest source of new revenue would be an 11.5 cent increase in the gas tax, and indexing it to the rate of inflation. The gas tax revenue would also have to be fully dedicated to transportation, protected from use for other state purposes.

I've written several times about the need to increase the gas tax. It stands at 21 cents per gallon, and provides the state with about $600 million per year. But over the last four years the cost of materials needed to maintain our highways and bridges has nearly doubled. So far the state's response to this increasing cost of operations is to do less with the money it has. This is not enough! As any business person will tell you, if the cost of your materials goes up beyond your control, you have to pass on the price increase to the consumer.

None of us wants to pay more for our gasoline. But if the current prices at the pump can move five or 10 cents in a few days, how are we going to be impacted by a larger share going to the state? Not very much, I submit. An 11-cent increase in the price of gas will cost a driver who uses 20 gallons of gas per week $114.40 extra per year. But collectively it will provide the commonwealth with over $300 million per year.

Gov. Patrick has taken the first step in addressing the problem with his proposal to reorganize transportation agencies in the state. We need to study his ideas and approve the most effective. But if we need hundreds of millions of dollars per year in new revenue, transportation reform is only part of the solution.

In the words of Chairman Silveira, "We are going to solve this problem. The question is, are we going to solve it before a tragedy, or after?"

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